with a smile and handed over one of the tumblers before going on. “You’re better off without him.” I let out a long sigh. “Yeah,” I eventually replied. “The bastard cheated on me, which was bad enough. He was so blasé about it though, like it didn’t mean anything. Why is it boys will stick their cock in any wet hole they find?” Bella laughed at the crude language before answering. “When they get a hardon there’s no blood left in their head for their brain to function,” she joked. “They can’t help themselves and that goes double for an arrogant dick like Jason. If ever there is a guy that thinks he is God’s gift to the opposite sex, it’s him.” “He even insulted me about my size,” I said. “The stupid idiot has no class,” Bella commented before taking a drink. “You shouldn’t let what he says bother you. You’re far better off without him in your life.” “I’m off men altogether,” I told my friend. “Oh…, you shouldn’t let one useless waste of space put you off men for good,” Bella said and laughed. “They do have their uses.” I shook my head as I joined in the laughter. The wine and company was making me feel a little better after the trauma of earlier in the evening, but I meant what I said about staying away from guys. It was coming up towards the summer break and I set my mind to just concentrating on my studies then going home to my parent’s farm to enjoy a break away from the city. “Oh…,” Bella let out. “I bumped in to Professor Hamilton when I was out buying the wine. She asked if you could go and see her tomorrow after classes finish.” “Why does she want to see me?” Bella shrugged her shoulders. “She just asked me to pass on the message, but didn’t say what it was about. You just have to go to her room after your last class of the day.” My mind ticked over as to what Professor Hamilton wanted to see me about, but as the wine and chat flowed I put the meeting out of my mind.
Chapter 2
The next day, the meeting with Professor Hamilton was all I was thinking about and I couldn’t shake off the trepidation that crept over me as another day of lectures came to an end. I packed my books in my bag and set off for the meeting. My nervousness grew as I approached her room and I stopped outside her door to take some deep breaths before knocking. “Come in.” The sound of the shout prompted me to open the door and step inside Professor Hamilton’s office. “You got my message,” the older woman said with a smile. “Yes,” I replied. “Bella told me last night after meeting you.” “And did the wine go down well?” Professor Hamilton said with a smirk. “Oh…, yes, it did,” I answered slightly hesitantly. “Good,” she said. “Take a seat.” I moved across to sit on the chair opposite her and said nothing as I waited for her to go on. She opened the top drawer of her desk and brought out some papers before looking across at me. “What are your plans for the summer?” “I’m intending to go home to my parent’s farm,” I told her. “Would you be interested in giving up a few weeks of your vacation?” she went on. “To do what?” “Well, I have contacts with the media company Reed Commerce,” she told me. “They’re interested in hiring an intern this year for a four week summer placement.” My interest was piqued at the mention of Reed Commerce. The billionaire boss in charge, Conrad Reed, built it up from scratch to become one of the most successful and influential media companies around. As part of the business studies course I was doing, we’d looked at case studies of the biggest companies, as well as the men and women that ran them. That included Reed Commerce and it was certainly one of the companies I planned to apply to once I finished college. A chance to get a foot in the door was definitely something to consider. “Have you been asked to provide someone?” I